Utah Jazz: Shorthanded squad runs out of gas against Hawks

SALT LAKE CITY — They were up by one heading into the fourth quarter, and led by as many as six with less than eight minutes to go.

But there would be no amazing finish this time. No protecting their fourth-quarter lead, something they've done in 29 of 30 such situations previously this season. No heroes this night, not from Utah.

Not with starting point guard Deron Williams dressed in street clothes that looked much sharper than the Jazz without him. And not with starting small forward Andrei Kirilenko, the primary impetus behind their recent run of success, injured and out too.

Behind 28 points and some clutch late-game shooting from Joe Johnson, Atlanta won 105-100 Monday night at sold-out EnergySolutions Arena — ending the 36-20 Jazz's four-game win streak, and giving the 35-20 Hawks their first win in Utah since hall-of-famer Dominique Wilkins scored 43 on Feb. 13, 1993.

"The odds probably weren't in our favor," swingman Kyle Korver said. "That's a really good team we played, too; the Hawks are a good team, you know?

"But, we still expect to win when we're here (at home). We've had guys out a whole lot the last few years, and we've always found ways to win, or tried to find ways to win. Tonight we just didn't find out enough."

Seven Jazz players scored in double figures, but no one had more than Paul Millsap's 14 points off the bench.

Carlos Boozer scored 12, pulled down 10 rebounds for his 36th double of the season and had a career-high eight assists to finish two shy of what would have been his first career triple-double. But he mustered only two points in the fourth quarter one night after scoring 22 with a career-high 23 rebounds as Utah rallied from 25 down in the third quarter to win in overtime at Portland.

And the Jazz, despite playing for the fifth time in seven nights, stuck around into the final minute.

But none of that would be enough as Utah lost for just the third time in their last 20 outings.

"We made a couple mistakes trying to come down the stretch and turned the ball over a couple times, and missed some free throws that could help keep you in there," said coach Jerry Sloan, whose club dropped to a game back of Denver for second-best record in the West — but had Dallas, which did win Monday, pull to within a half-game of it. "But I thought our guys really played hard, being shorthanded and that sort of thing.

"That's all you can do — lay it out there, and see what you can come up with."